Got it bad? East Coast v West Coast

Who has it worse? The Los Angeles Dodgers with their Frank McCourt disaster/PR nightmare/bankruptcy/divorce, or the New York Mets with their Bernie Madoff ponzi-scheme/fraud/arrest?

Based simply on who will be able to recover the fastest, it’s got to be the Mets. It is going to take years for this all to play out. The Mets are cutting payroll by more than $50M this season – the most ever in the history of MLB. Fans are hiding. Ticket prices are being slashed by as much as 30% and even that won’t be enough to get butts in the seats. They had to let their best player, Jose Reyes, walk away for basically nothing. (I believe they are eligible for compensation draft picks).

Major League baseball is loaning them money along with other suitors, but it won’t make a lick of difference. This is a cluster “f” of epic proportions.

So too, is the LA Dodgers situation, although it appears that once a new owner is in place, the ship will be righted. The Dodgers, unlike the Mets, have a boat load of talent on their club, with Cy Young winner Clayton Kershaw and could’ve, would’ve, should’ve been MVP in Matt Kemp. Ryan Braun- cough, cheater, cough.

One can also look at the divisions each team is in. The NL West each year is wide open. Which ever team establishes a little swagger and gets hot usually wins that division. It would not be out of the realm of possibilities for the Dodgers to win the West. On the other hand, the Mets have zero chance of winning the NL East. The Phillies are loaded, the Braves are getting better and better, the Nationals are building an incredible team and the Marlins now have money.

Yes, I’d say the New York Mets are in a world of trouble, locked into a metaphorical jail cell, much like the one that will be housing Bernie Madoff for years to come.